What is Nick Clegg Smoking??

Today, in the Daily Telegraph there is an article relating how the Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron may not give active support to his Liberal Democrat Deputy Prime Minster Nick Clegg’s reform proposals for the UK House of Lords. The current arrangement is that the members of ‘the Lords’ gain access through “inheritance, by appointment, or by virtue of their ecclesiastical role within the established church.” Many in the UK believe that it should be reformed.

Nick Clegg is proposing a new house, dramatically reduced in size from nearly 800 to merely 300, which will include (eventually) up to 80% of those in the house elected. Yup, you read that right, elected…

Now, I have no doubt the numbers need to be reduced, only a few weeks ago an article in the Daily Mail was claiming that there was no more room in ‘the Lords’!! But does Nick Clegg really believe that this country needs another elected body?? If he does, he’s mad. Crazier than the Crazy Frog. Turn out at elections in the UK is plummeting… frankly, the 30-odd percentage turn out for the recent referendum on whether to change the voting mechanism for the House of Commons at Westminster is embarrassing. That’s how little people in this country care about our form of Government.

To add to his bizarreness, Nick Clegg wants the new elected members of ‘the Lords’ to be elected using Proportional Representation, just a week or so after a version of PR was rejected by 2:1 in that very same referendum!! Clearly another politico who just doesn’t listen.

But surely the final nail in the coffin for such an idea is to look at the kind of people that get voted for in the UK. You only need to look at the Assemblies of Northern Ireland, Scotland & Wales as well as the Westminster Parliament to realise that another body of self serving politicians is the last thing that the UK needs. You could also look at the winners of the X-Factor, Survivor or Fame Academy to get a ‘State of the Union’ feel for where the head of the general population are… and don’t forget that people of this country voted for Ken Livingstone as Mayor of London…

In other political news though, was my stumbling upon www.dup.ie… now, I can’t actually make up my mind on this, as to whether it’s a serious political statement or an incredibly subtle attempt at ripping the Michael. Either way, I love it.